Henry C. Brenner Associate Professor of Chemistry B.S., MIT; Ph.D., University of Chicago; Postdoctoral Research at UC Berkeley Email: henry.brenner@nyu.edu Phone:  212-998-8432

Areas of Research/Interest: Physical chemistry; spectroscopy; more specifically, optical and magnetic resonance studies of molecular solids and biological systems; energy transfer and luminescence in condensed phases

Research Description: In solids, intermolecular energy transfer is possible, and an exciton, or mobile excited state, can be formed. Such processes are important in, for example, photosynthetic systems and photovoltaic cells. I study excited states of organic molecular solids by magnetic resonance and luminescence techniques and am collaborating with Professor Emeritus Pope in the study of exciton fission and fusion in systems containing an isolated pair of tetracene molecules. In tetracene, the first excited singlet state energy is about equal to twice that of the lowest triplet. Exciton fission of singlet into two triplets has in fact been observed and studied extensively in the pure tetracene crystal. In an isolated tetracene pair or dimer, where both singlet fission and triplet fusion are possible, an "entangled" pair state may exist. After successful preparation of tetracene pairs, we plan to probe the triplet character by luminescence and triplet magnetic resonance methods.

Select Publications:

M. Pope and H. C. Brenner, "Geminate recombination in an inhomogeneous electric field", Synthetic Metals 141 (2004) 185-192

M. Pope, B. Braams and H. C. Brenner, "Diffusion of excitons in systems with non-planar geometry: Theory", Chem. Phys. 288 (2003) 105-112.

A. Dourandin, H.C. Brenner and M. Pope, "New broad spectrum autocorrelator for ultrashort light pulses based on multiphoton photoemission", Rev. Sci. Instrum. 71, 1589-1594 (2000).

A.E. Tringali, S.K. Kim and H.C. Brenner, "ODMR and fluorescence studies of pyrene solubilized in anionic and cationic micelles", J. Luminescence 81 (1999) 85-100.

A.E. Tringali and H.C. Brenner, "Spin-lattice relaxation and ODMR linenarrowing of the photoexcited triplet state of pyrene in polycrystalline Shpol'skii hosts and glassy matrices", Chem. Phys. 226 (1998)

H.C. Brenner, "The kinetic molecular theory and the weighing of gas samples", J. Chem. Educ. 69 (1992) 558.

A.E. Tringali, S.F.A. Pearce, E. Hawrot and H.C. Brenner, "Phosphorescence and ODMR study of the binding interactions of acetylcholine receptor alpha subunit peptides with alpha-cobratoxin", FEBS Lett. 308 (1992) 225-228.

S.A. Gilbert, T. Kirski, H.C. Brenner and C. von Borczyskowski, "Low temperature tunnelling of triplet excitation energy", Chem. Phys. Lett. 178 (1991) 379-387.

H.C. Brenner, S.A. Gilbert and I.A. Sokolik, "Delayed fluorescence ODMR in isotopically mixed naphthalene crystals: effect of critical concentration transport on signal polarity", J. Lumin. 45 (1990) 366-368.

N.E. Geacintov and H.C. Brenner, "The triplet state as a probe of dynamics and structure in biological macromolecules", (Yearly Review, invited), Photochem. Photobiol. 50 (1989) 841-858.

S.K. Kim, N.E. Geacintov, H.C. Brenner and R.G. Harvey, "Identification of conformationally different binding sites in benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide-DNA adducts by low temperature fluorescence spectroscopy", Carcinogenesis 10 (1989) 1333-1335.

V. Kolubayev, H.C. Brenner and N.E. Geacintov, "Stereoselective covalent binding of enantiomers of anti-benzo(a)pyrene diol epoxide to DNA as probed by optical detection of magnetic resonance", Biochemistry 26 (1987) 2638.

Fellowships/Honors: NSF Postdoctoral Energy-Related Fellow (1975-77); Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow (1977-79); Fulbright Lecturer, Soviet Union (1990)